As a Sommelier, This Is Exactly What I Want You to Know Before Visiting My Wine Bar
And it has nothing to do with wine
People felt like they had to be wine experts before stepping into my wine bar and store.
They thought they had to understand grape varieties, terroir, and vintages. They thought they had to know how to swirl, sip, and spit. They thought I would judge them if they didn’t know any of it.
I didn’t.
In fact, there are other — far more practical — things all us wine and food industry-types wish people knew about before setting foot in our establishments. Most of it has almost nothing to do with wine or food itself and everything to do with how restaurants and bars actually work.
If you know this stuff, you’re going to have a much better experience in every single bar and restaurant you set foot into.
This is what you need to know.
No one wants to turn away customers
If we do it, there’s a good reason.
I was at my friend’s wine bar the other day where bartender João told me he’d had trouble with some American tourists earlier in the evening. They insisted on muscling into the bar when there was no room for them — the place was…
